Against

Microsoft, celebrating 25 years of making hardware for your computer, want to rejoice with the launch of what it claims is yet another cutting edge mouse. But is the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 all that it's cracked up to be? We get scrolling to find out.

The industry’s first rechargeable notebook mouse that comes with 1GB of flash memory in the box sounds impressive, but on closer inspection you should be prepared to be disappointed.

While the mouse itself is small, compact and ergonomically friendly to cup in your hand, it's the dongle that we have issues with.

Almost the length of the mouse itself and bigger than most USB memory drives we've ever seen, the "three-in-one supertool" as described by Microsoft, lets users simultaneously work wirelessly, save files with 1GB of storage and recharge the mouse all through one USB port.

Although most mouse batteries last 3 months in heavy use, Microsoft believes running out of juice on the road is a worry and so have created this elaborate system of allowing you to charge the unit and still use it at the same time.

Connecting magnetic charging ports to both the dongle and to the underside of the mouse allows you to charge it. One nice feature is that you can charge and use at the same time rather than having to sit the mouse in a docking station.

The included AAA rechargeable battery claims to offer more than 3 weeks of battery power on a full charge, however in our First Look we weren't able to get to test it for juice performance.

Of course, while having the memory in the dongle is a nice idea, the premise falls down when you want to share information on that drive with others. Unplugging it means you can't control your mouse via the 2.4GHz interface.

To get around this and perhaps appeal to the Bluetooth adopters out there, the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 has the ability to switch from Bluetooth to 2.4GHz via the flick of a switch.

Verdict

The Mobile Memory Mouse itself is a nice mouse that is comfortable to use. It offers a good alternative to Logitech's NX range, however for us on our First Look it's the dongle and yet another cable to put in our bag that lets this device down.

At £79.99 you are clearly paying a premium for something that we feel doesn't add a premium.

Stuart has been a tech journalist since 1998 and written for a number of publications around the world. Regularly turning up on television, radio and in newspapers, Stuart has played with virtually every gadget available.